


Never Has It Been So Clear

by Quantumcats



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Christmas, Domesticity, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, shyan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27585676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quantumcats/pseuds/Quantumcats
Summary: Mistletoe brings back the memory of Shane and Ryan's first kiss.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 9
Kudos: 52





	Never Has It Been So Clear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bottomryanbitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bottomryanbitch/gifts).



> Wrote this for my dear friend Bottomryanbitch, and intended (may still intend) to write smut in here - BUT this was a nice little fluffy fic on its own, so I wanted to get this put up. Hope you like it <3

Ryan stepped off the small step ladder, smiling at the small sprig of mistletoe he'd successfully hung in the entryway of the house. It was one of the finishing touches to the holiday decor he'd worked on all afternoon. Looking around, he surveyed his work - the garland down the staircase railing, the multicolored lights around the room where the walls met the ceiling, the strangely large collection of christmas-themed mouse figurines on the hall table. The christmas tree was in place, but stood bare, the box of ornaments waiting patiently beside it.

He heard steps on the staircase behind him, muffled when they reached the bottom - unmistakably socks on the hardwood floor. Before he could even turn around, Shane’s arms wrapped around his middle, his body leaning to kiss Ryan’s shoulder.

“Done editing for the day?” Ryan asked, leaning into the touch.

“Mhm.” Shane answered. “It looks amazing, Ry. I’m impressed you got lights up that high.” He said fondly, with a touch of mischief. Ryan laughed.

“Shut up, Shane. You know _damn well_ we have a stepladder and I am a _capable human adult,_ you dick.” He responded, shoulders shaking in laughter as he turned to face Shane. That had always been their primary love language - little silly jabs at one another, dumb jokes, always delivered with a face betraying the love beneath them. Ryan lived for it. He lived for those moments when they dissolve into laughter together, over something incredibly stupid more often than not, and everything is just _right._ Normally he’d be wary of teasing, worried it was possibly someone with real, mean intent - but not Shane. Not when he held him sweetly, spoke through his touch, smiled down at him until his eyes were barely visible. No, Ryan could never mistake that for any sort of ill intent. It was like a song, broadcast on a very narrow frequency, that only Ryan was tuned into, volume at maximum. And when he kissed him, oh, how it vibrated through his bones. Even now.

“What was that for?” Ryan laughed, not exactly complaining, when Shane pulled back.

“Ryan, we’re under the mistletoe. It’s Christmas _law_.” Shane smiled.

Ryan looked up, having forgotten the mistletoe he hung not two minutes ago. Shane did that to him sometimes - made him forget roughly the last five minutes of whatever he was doing. Or maybe love did that to him. Was there a difference? Maybe there was at one point.

\-------

_2 years ago_

“I’ll help you clean up a bit. Least I can do.” Shane said easily, the last remaining guest at his Christmas party this year - and Ryan gladly accepted the help. People were a little messy when they had enough spiked eggnog in them, turned out. 

“I appreciate it, man.” Ryan and Shane were still a little bit buzzed, but nothing blackout-level, as they began the cleanup process. Still, Ryan felt warmth in his veins when he looked over at Shane, helping him with a mess that wasn’t even really his, and Ryan couldn’t chalk that feeling completely up to alcohol.

“No problem. My Uber will be like 25 minutes yet anyway. Be kinda a dick move for me to just sit here.” Shane joked, throwing a few more red cups into the trash bag he was carrying.

“Yeah, that’s true.” Ryan laughed in response, his veins, his skin, all still radiating a low level heat. He shook his head, he hadn’t had that much to drink, right?

They finished gathering up all the trash and recycling, Shane was even kind enough to take it outside. The place looked way better already, Ryan thought, as Shane stepped back inside.

“It’s freezing out there, Jesus!” He huffed, taking his jacket back off. Ryan watched him as he blew warm air into his hands, face reddened from eggnog and the cold, big dumb smile on his face, hair messy at his forehead from where his beanie had moved a bit.

And that warmth in his veins bloomed hotter.

“What?” Shane asked, noticing Ryan staring a little long.

“Oh, nothing, I was just --- I could make you tea? Hot chocolate? Something warm? How long until your Uber is here?” Ryan recovered.

“Oh, uh--” Shane started, taking out his phone. “Says ten minutes.”

“That’s good enough, cmon.”

Ryan quickly made hot chocolate for the both of them, the kind from the powder packets to save time, and brought it over to the kitchen table where Shane sat.

“Thanks.” Shane said, wrapping his hands around the warm mug.

Ryan took a sip of his own, half-smiling as he set it down on the table and leaned back. “No problem. Thank _you_ for staying to clean up.”

“Yeah, sure. And, of course, thanks for having me at the party. It was fun.” Shane said, taking a small sip of the cocoa.

Ryan let out a small huff of a laugh. “As if I wouldn’t invite you? C’mon, man. I’d have still had this whole party even if you were the _only_ one to RSVP.” Ryan said easily. Surprisingly easily.

“That sounds pretty lame, dude.” Shane snickered behind his mug as he took another drink.

Ryan scoffed. “Nah, it’s not! You, me, Christmas? Sounds fine to me. Fun, even. It’d be perfect.” He only realized how softly he’d said the last part after it left his mouth. The chilly red hue on Shane’s face seemed to worsen then, and Ryan worried if he had frostbite from earlier. But before he could ask if he was alright, Shane’s phone buzzed.

“Ah, Uber’s just about here. Guess that’s my cue.” Shane said, taking one last sip from his mug.

Ryan had to concentrate to keep his face from falling. Which was weird, since he’d see him again on Monday, like usual. But something didn’t feel…. _usual._

“Oh, yeah, right, lemme walk you to the door.” Ryan said, following Shane over.

Shane crouched down to put on his boots, standing back up just as a car pulled up outside. He narrowly dodged the christmas decor hanging from the ceiling as he stood, starting to laugh but stopping suddenly when he got a better look.

Oh.

Ryan followed his eyes up, right up to the sprig of mistletoe hanging between them. Ryan hadn’t even….he didn’t even _buy_ mistletoe, so how the hell was it hanging here right now? He panicked, cursing whatever guest had made this awkward situation a reality for him - it had to have been one of them. Real funny. Realllll funny.

But when Shane looked back down at Ryan, there was no humor in his face. There was….a question, maybe. Hesitation only by necessity. Ryan’s veins were on _fire_ now, and something downright deafening seemed to crowd his ears and mind.

“One of the guests, um….must have…” He started quietly, but still hadn’t looked away. “It’s not like it’s….law, or something.”

Shane’s eyes softened even further then. “Oh, Ryan. I disagree.”

Ryan’s heart was pumping molten lava at this point, all of it rushing across his face as Shane took off one glove to touch Ryan’s cheek. The noise in Ryan’s head was almost unbearable - but it was the best sound, the greatest sensation, that he’d ever felt. Shane leaned in closer, glancing to Ryan’s lips.

“Wouldn’t want to disappoint Santa.” He all but whispered, mere inches away, and Ryan got out half of a laugh before Shane’s lips were on his. He stood there, shocked, as Shane _kissed him_. He said that over and over in his head, processing, trying to function - but Shane pulled back before he could manage it. He froze in place, lips parted, in absolute disbelief of what just happened, as he looked up at Shane, who merely smiled back.

“Goodnight, Ry. Merry Christmas.” He said quietly, trailing one last touch of Ryan’s cheek with his thumb before turning around, opening the door, and stepping out into the cold.

Ryan finally snapped to his senses, realized what the fuck just happened, and also realized he --- a grade A idiot --- hadn’t even kissed back.

“Shane.” He said, but Shane was already halfway down the sidewalk, and Ryan was still inside, no shoes, no coat, short sleeves. But he ran out after him nonetheless.

“Shane!” He yelled this time, feet meeting ice-cold ground as he caught up with him. Shane stopped and turned around. He didn’t even let Shane speak before taking his face in both hands, ignoring the nighttime winter chill seeping into his skin. The fire beneath it was enough to ward off the cold anyway.

Shane immediately relaxed into the kiss, bringing up one gloved hand to Ryan’s jaw, the other arm pulling him in closer. This kiss didn’t end so quickly, as Ryan moved his lips against Shane’s, an oasis of warmth in the icy air. Shane’s breath was warm against his skin when he finally pulled away.

“Oh.” Shane laughed, breath visible in the streetlights.

“Yeah. I, uh, yeah.” Ryan started, but then simply laughed along, mirroring Shane’s smile.

A car horn honked impatiently behind Shane. He went to pull away, but Ryan turned him back.

“ _Cancel it,”_ He pleaded, looking him in the eye.

Shane paused for a moment. “Y….yeah, gimme a minute.” He said, walking over to tell the driver (who seemed pretty pissed but...oh well.)

“Alright cmon, I’m freezing!” Ryan said, heading back inside, Shane close behind.

“You’re the one who ran out here with no shoes!”

“And _YOU’RE_ the one who kissed me like...like _that_ and left!” Ryan answered, as Shane stepped in behind him. He was already removing his gloves when he responded.

“Like what? Like….” He began, pulling Ryan back into another kiss, over much too soon for Ryan’s tastes. “Like that?” Shane asked, and Ryan should have known Shane would be... _Shane._ There he was, big stupid grin on his face, knowing his jokes are awful, and knowing, somehow, that Ryan _loved them._

And Ryan could give as good as he got, of course.

“Sorta, but I have some notes.” Ryan answered, smiling just as big and stupid.

“Such as?” Shane quirked his eyebrow.

“I need more evidence before I can give you a full report.”

“Well, then. Let’s continue this experiment in the living room. I’ll make sure to give you plenty of data.”

The warmth in Ryan’s veins settled into a comforting heat, like summertime sun, as Shane pressed him onto the couch, falling in more ways than one.

\--------

That had been the beginning of when the line between “this is Shane” and “this is love” blurred in Ryan’s mind, for good. Some stupid dumb holiday tradition, which he now voluntarily participated in, brought them together like a damn Christmas movie. And here they were two years later, still with their big, stupid smiles, kissing under the mistletoe, their first Christmas at their new home - and Ryan couldn’t be happier.

He wished he’d known who put up the mistletoe that night, who to thank -- but he never did find out. He also never found the tiny bits of green left in Shane’s coat pocket that night, either. But he didn’t need to know that.

**Author's Note:**

> I love the occasional trope of one of them pissing off an Uber driver by canceling the ride. Idk why it's so funny. I would never do it in real life but - just the fact I've seen it in multiple fics. Is funny.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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